


Fern, Violet and Cyclamen

by traumschwinge



Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom
Genre: Asexual Character, Domestic Fluff, Florists, M/M, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 19:11:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6207046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traumschwinge/pseuds/traumschwinge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every morning on his way to work, Erik passes by a flower shop. Most of the days, he sees the florist working there. They have never talked but the familarity has them nod a greeting at each other each morning anyway. <br/>One of these days when he's less busy, Erik had promised himself, he'd go into the flower shop and talk to the florist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet <s>Cute</s> Coughing

Every morning, Erik passed by the flower shop on his way to work. Sometimes, when he was a little later than he'd like, there would be a delivery van parked in front and a burly guy would be carrying back plastic vases full of colorful flowers in all shapes inside. On those mornings, Erik would hurry a little more, only to slow down when he passed the flower shop. One day, he always promised himself, he would get himself a flower. Almost every day, he was too late after work to find the shop still open. The best he had been able to do was to pass by just when the burly man was closing the shop. Erik didn't want to keep the man from the end of his workday, especially since he didn't even know what he wanted.  
He had the feeling the man paused or at least worked slower to watch when Erik passed by. Maybe, he could sense the possible future customer in Erik. Or maybe, he just wondered why Erik spend so much time at work. There was always the possibility that Erik wasn't the only one who noticed the routine of the other.   
One morning, when Erik walked by the flower shop, the burly guy nodded at him in greeting. Erik frowned, but nodded back anyway.   
After that, they started to greet every time they saw each other. Erik still didn't know the guy's name but seeing him every morning eventually became a routine.   
He still didn't make it to the shop before closing time.   
One day, he was close. It had been a long week upon long months at work and Erik had been so tired all week he'd finally decided to leave without making overtime and start fresh in the morning. He felt a little beside himself, but they were close enough to the end of the project he willed himself not to get sick.  
As he slugged home, he checked his watch as he passed the flower shop. It was ten minutes to closing time and there was no customer inside. He paused, considered going inside, talk to the man he'd been greeting every morning and almost every night. He coughed. Not today. Today, he'd get home and get a full night's sleep, he decided and walked on.   
The day Erik and his team finished the project, he finally had to admit that he was getting sick. He couldn't even hide it from his coworkers, or his boss. The minute he had no more work on the project left to do, he'd lost all leverage. He had to let his boss send him home early.  
On his way to the doctor's, he still passed by the flower shop. This time, it was still early, closing time hours away. Erik lifted a hand to his forehead as if he could feel his temperature reliably. It wasn't that bad, he convinced himself. There wasn't any harm in getting himself a plant before going to the doctor's.   
He entered the shop. The air smelled moist, of earth and sweet flowers, but not overly so. A bell had rung when he'd pushed the door open but he couldn't see anyone behind the counter. There were however noises coming from the back. Erik looked around, a little lost. He knew some of the cut flowers, some of the orchids too, but none of those were what he was looking for. He wanted something for himself, not a gift for his mother. His glance was drawn to a shelf full of leafy greens.   
"Can I help you?" The gruff voice startled Erik. He hadn't heard anyone enter the room.   
Erik shrugged as he turned around. It was the guy he always saw. "I'm looking for a plant." Even to his own ears, his voice sounded a bit too coarse to be health.   
The guy rolled his eyes at him. "You don't say, bub. What for? Gift for your mother? Girlfriend?"  
"Just for myself." Erik coughed. "I don't have a girlfriend."  
The guy raised an eyebrow. Still, he nodded. "Anything in mind then?"  
"Hard to kill?" Erik smiled. His throat hurt. "I've no experience with plants."  
The guy took a small pot from one of the shelves. The plant growing inside was all leaves. "How about a fern, then? They only need water. Or do you rather want a cactus? ...hey, are you sure you're alright?"  
He put the fern back down again, just in time to catch Erik when he stumbled without even taking a step. "Bub, you're burning up."  
Erik leaned against the nice, cold body holding him. His eyes slipped closed for a second. He had to force them open again, had to force his legs to cooperate again.  
The flower shop guy was cursing softly, mostly about Erik's stupidity. Erik didn't even have the strength to protest.  
He found himself on a chair in a cramped backroom a while later. How long it had been or how exactly he had come to sit in the chair, but he assumed it had to do with the florist looking at him with a certain disgruntled kind of worry.  
“You should see a doctor, not a florist about that fever,” the florist grumbled.   
Erik wanted to protest but before he could say anything the itching in his throat got the better of him. He bent over coughing. “I was just on my way there,” he croaked. “But then I saw how early it was and how I never made it here during opening hours…” His words turned into a cough that made his chest ache at the end.  
“Fucking idiot.” The florist helped Erik sit up and lean back against the chair. “Wait!” he ordered. Erik closed his eyes. He was glad for the support of the chair’s backrest. Even if he’d wanted to, he wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere anyway.  
When Erik opened his eyes again, the florist pressed a mug of tea into his hands. There were still some petals swimming on the surface. “Drink, that might help with the cough,” the florist grumbled.  
Erik took a careful sip. The tea was hot and tasted surprisingly spicy, not at all like the slight smell of flowery medicine it had, but felt soothing in his throat. He nodded in thanks.  
The florist watched him in silence while Erik was slowly drinking the tea. After a while, he suddenly vanished. He might have said something to Erik, but Erik hadn’t been able to process the words. Eventually, the florist returned, just when Erik was almost done with his tea. He knelt down in front of Erik so he could look him in the eye comfortably.  
Erik tried to pull himself together, perhaps even smile a little. It all failed horribly.  
“Listen,” the florist said. His glance was intent enough to make Erik pull all his left strenght together. “Do you think you could go home in a taxi? Just nod.”  
Erik thought about it for a bit.  
“Can’t leave the shop alone.” The florist sighed. “Or I’d take you. But I can’t.”  
Slowly, Erik nodded. “I can do that.” He closed his eyes, opened them, took a last gulp of tea. “It’s not far.” He fumbled his phone out. It almost fell to the floor but the florist caught it and held it out to Erik. Erik entered the pass code before giving it back.   
“Promise you won’t call me just to cough into my ear.” The florist laughed. He typed around on the phone, then handed it back. “A short message that you’re home will be enough.”  
Erik nodded. “Will do,” he croaked.

~*~

  
The next morning, Erik didn’t remember much of his day after leaving the company. There were fragments of memories, of a fern and the smell of flowers and the furrowed brows of the florist. Sluggish, he rolled out of bed, still wrapped in a blanket. He took his phone with him but didn’t look at it until he had put on the pot for some tea.  
He’d wanted to call his boss to tell her he was too sick to come in, but when the phone unlocked, the app that was still opened was his messenger. He did a doubletake. It looked like he’d been texting some “Logan” guy all night, one message less legible than the last. He tapped the contact information and suddenly smiled. “Nice Florist, huh?” he murmured under his breath.  
»Good morning. The fever is down a little but still sick« he wrote. He felt silly.   
Next, he called up his boss. She wasn’t surprised at all and told him just to not die and maybe see a doctor eventually. By the time he was done, he had a new message from “Logan”.  
»Get back to sleep,« it read.  
Erik chuckled. »Tea first.« He fixed himself a pot. It took two trips from the kitchen to the bed as he couldn’t carry the pot, a mug and keep his blanket at the same time. He settled back down in bed, fully ready to fall asleep after the first cup of tea. Just for fun, he checked to see if Logan had replied.   
He had. »Whatever. Just get better.«  
»Worried?« Erik typed between sips.   
This time, the reply was a picture of a fern in a small plastic pot with Erik’s name scrawled on in black sharpie. »Just have something you ordered that’s waiting for payment,« the caption said.  
»I didn’t order anything.« Erik coughed. On a whim, he added, »But if you housedeliver, I could pretend.«  
»Go to sleep.« A few seconds later, a second message arrived, »I’m off at six today, if you’re feeling better, I could swing by.«  
»Deal.« Feeling happy, Erik put his phone down and made himself comfortable, falling asleep only moments later.


	2. The Home-y Smell of Moist and Dirt

Over months, Erik had gotten used to his new friday evening routine. He was still working late, usually one or two hours over time. But at the end of it, after finishing his work, he still spend a couple of minutes in his office, watering plants. By now, he had a fern, a blue violet and a cyclamen, the latter two presents and carefully nurtured back to a blooming state.  
He knew exactly when he had to leave to be by the flower shop to pick Logan up after work. Those nights when he was running late, with more work than he had anticipated, Logan would be waiting for him if he gave him a heads up. So far, Logan hadn’t missed a single one of their friday night dates.  
Today, Erik was right on time. Just when he turned around the corner, Logan was leaving the flower shop. By the time Erik had sauntered over, he was done locking it up. He smile when he saw Erik. Erik smiled back, feeling relaxed like he hadn’t felt all week.  
The first few times they had done this they’d tried holding hands and various iterations of it too. Soon enough, though, Erik had started feeling nervous about the public display of affection. It was always Logan who’d pulled back first, probably sensing Erik’s discomfort. It wasn’t even that Erik was afraid of who might see them like that or of their reactions, it was just that he didn’t want to share something as private as his feelings with anyone uninvolved.   
They had found out soon that they enjoyed the same kind of bar, the quiet, a little dim ones where nobody bothered any other patrons. There was one just like that about halfway between Erik’s apartment and the flower shop. It hadn’t taken any discussion to make it the usual first goal of their friday nights, no matter what other plans they had.  
They walked over to the bar without talking, comfortable with how their shoulders just almost touched. At the bar, Erik went for their usual table while Logan got them a beer each. They took turns in buying, it had just proved easier than splitting the cost every single week.   
There wasn’t much they had to tell each other, at least not anything they wanted to talk about over a beer. Mostly, they were just sitting a little closer than necessary or usual for friends, enjoying each other’s company. Under the table, Logan had put his hand on Erik’s leg. After a while, Erik put his own hand on top of it and squeezed lightly.  
His beer almost empty, Erik spoke up. “Do you want to come over after?” He didn’t look at Logan. It wasn’t the first time Logan had stayed over but it was still new enough for him to be nervous about.  
Logan gave his leg a short squeeze. It was only reassuring, nothing more. “We could watch a movie,” he suggested. They had had both a couple of rather embarrassing experiences that had led to them agreeing to have plans before being alone, just so they had the same expectations. No code necessary.  
Erik nodded. He wanted to ask Logan to stay over. He doubted Logan would say no. It would be the first time, despite the months of dating. Erik hadn’t even noticed that he had tensed until he noticed Logan’s hand gently stopping his nails from digging into his arm. He hadn’t noticed opening his cuffs either.  
“You don’t have to invite me over if you don’t want to,” Logan said. He was going out of his way to meet Erik’s eyes. “I can call you when I get home.”  
Erik shook his head. “Stay over,” he managed to get out.  
“Only for sleeping,” Logan replied. “Gotta work tomorrow. You’re lucky your place is closer.”  
Erik rolled his eyes and huffed out a laugh.  
They finished off their beers and left the bar. The walk over to Erik’s apartment was short, just a few minutes longer than the one from the flower shop to the bar. Logan usually walked Erik home, because he claimed it was on his way anyway. It were the only times Erik permitted any show of affection in public, only for a short good night kiss near the door.  
It made Erik a little nervous that they wouldn’t do that today. Mostly because that meant he didn’t have to fret over having Logan over like a teenager. Just because he hadn’t had anyone over for about a decade. It was ridiculous. He leaned a bit closer to Logan while they walked. Their shoulders brushed.  
“Do you need me to tell you I won’t push?” Logan murmured. He’d caught Erik’s fourth and fifth finger with his second and third for a moment, just for a couple of steps.  
Erik slipped his hand into Logan’s. One more block until they were home. He’d survive that long. Logan squeezed briefly. “I’m fine,” Erik declared, thankful nonetheless. He wouldn’t be dating Logan if he didn’t intellectually know that.  
They didn’t talk anymore until they were up in Erik’s apartment. Logan had by now visited often enough to know his way to the living room on his own. Erik got two glasses and a bottle of ginger ale before he joined him. Logan had complained often enough about Erik only drinking water at home that Erik had started to keep a bottle of the only non-alcoholic drink they could agree on in his kitchen.  
When Erik made himself comfortable on the couch next to him, Logan picked up the remote and started zapping through the programs. Erik closed his eyes. He didn’t actually care what they were watching as long as he could spend some time feeling entirely comfortable. Logan put an arm around him when he’d eventually settled on a program.  
For a while, Erik was content on listening to the program—a nature documentary, something he hadn’t even known for sure Logan was interested in—and breathing in the smells of Logan’s shirt. Logan smelled mostly like the flower shop, like dirt and moist and of course blooming flowers. It drowned out the smell of whatever laundry detergent he was using and Logan’s own smell. Erik didn’t mind. The smell of flowers had long since become one that made him feel safe.  
“You’re not falling asleep like that, are you?” Logan laughed after a while. Erik squeezed his side, too lazy to move. “That was a legitimate question!” Logan protested. “I will wake you up.”  
“You’re the one telling me I should sleep more.” Erik only just barely managed to suppress a yawn. He leaned up to press a kiss to Logan’s cheek and pulled a face. “You’re stubbly.”  
“And you’re not?” Logan was still grinning. To prove his point, he stroked the back of his hand once up and down Erik’s cheek. Erik tried to swat it away at the same time as he was leaning into the touch. It was so undignified he’d never be caught dead doing it by anyone but Logan.  
Erik sat up and looked at Logan. “Can I kiss you?” he asked.  
Logan smiled. The question had become a stable in their relationship. “You tell me when to stop,” he said as he leaned over to initiate the first kiss. He waited until Erik wrapped an arm around his shoulder before he pulled him closer with an arm around his waist.  
Erik took his time with the kisses, enjoying every single one of them and only breaking away a few times to pause. Without much thought, he’d snuck a hand into Logan’s hair to cling onto him and hold him in place. He didn’t protest as Logan pulled him onto his lap, just twitched briefly. It was enough to make Logan stop and wait for Erik to make a move.  
Erik swallowed. He had to take a deep breath and lean against Logan’s shoulder for a bit. “I’m okay,” he murmured. “It’s ok. We can go on.”  
Logan looked at him for a moment. He didn’t seem entirely convinced and a little guilty. “Tell me where to put my hands,” he said. “Waist again? Shoulders? Where’s good?”  
Erik shook his head. “Anywhere’s good.” He swallowed again. “I trust you,” he said, as much to himself as to Logan. “It’s ok.”  
Logan ran a hand through Erik’s hair, smoothing it back a little. “I just thought this was more comfortable,” he said. He didn’t say, ‘this wasn’t meant to be sexual’, but Erik knew that was what he meant.   
Erik closed his eyes. He put his head on Logan’s shoulder, pressing his nose and lips to his neck. “A bit,” he said, very slowly. “A bit would be okay.” He could feel Logan’s pulse against his lips. It was a little faster than normal. In all his previous relationships, that, together with Logan’s quickened breath and the hand rubbing circles into his back at waist height, would have been his cue to run or make it stop. With Logan, it only made him cling more to him, forcing his experience to comply with his logical thinking. Logan did not push, he would not push.  
Erik pressed a careful kiss to Logan’s pulse. He was aware of what he was doing, very much so, as every moment forced him to push the boundaries he’d set up for himself a little. Only the fact that he didn’t feel any less safe kept him going, even when he heard Logan gasp softly as he nipped lightly on his skin between kisses, even when Logan’s hand moved up and down his back, up to his shoulders and down to his hip, stopping just above his ass.  
Erik shifted a little, doing his best to straddle Logan’s lap without moving too much. It worked just barely, but it accomplished what Erik had wanted. If he sat up a little, there was just enough space between him and Logan’s groin that he could pretend he didn’t notice the reaction Logan was having to what he was doing. Erik took a couple of deep breaths, calming himself down. It was fine. He wanted this. This being mostly to touch Logan however he wanted and being held by him in turn, with the TV running in the background.   
Logan nudged him with his chin. “Hey, I can’t go to work with a hickey,” he protested. He sounded breathless.  
“Do you want me to stop?” Erik looked up.   
“I want you to kiss me again.” Logan moved his hand down some more. “Is it ok? My hand there?”  
Erik nodded. Logan’s big hand cupping his ass was actually somewhat comforting. Mostly because he knew that it wasn’t anything more than that. Just Logan touching him. “I think I even like it,” Erik admitted. It was harder to say out loud than he’d thought. Too often before, admitting he liked something had only led to accusations and further demands.  
He could hear Logan smirk. “Good to know.”  
Erik shook his head a little, smiling as well. He kissed Logan again, just to keep him from saying anything else. Logan made an appreciative sound deep in his chest.  
The noise from the TV changed during their kiss as the first documentary ended and the next started soon after. Erik couldn’t care less. Eventually, Logan moved his hand up from his ass again. It was shaking a little as he stroked up Erik’s back, still over his shirt. A minute later, Logan broke away from the kiss, panting.  
“Enough,” Logan growled. He even held Erik away by a shoulder. “I… Can’t. Sorry.” He closed his eyes, taking a few breaths in the feeble effort to normalize his breathing. “Dunno about you. But I’m not ready to jerk off in front of you.”  
Erik had to catch his breath himself. He looked at Logan for a moment, waiting for his oxygen deprived mind process the information from his ears. Gingerly, he detached himself from Logan, climbed off his lap and settled down next to him again. No reason to panic, he told himself. Logan had called stop because of both their boundaries. All was okay.  
Logan kissed his cheek. “Sorry about that,” he murmured. Erik was staring at the TV where CGI dinosaurs were swimming through an approximation of a prehistoric ocean. He was still fighting his panic. Logan’s arm around him helped a little to calm him down.  
“I’m alright,” Erik sighed. Not ‘it’s alright’. “Really.” He closed his eyes and leaned back against Logan. “Thank you.”  
Logan shrugged, jostling Erik a little. “Whatever,” he murmured. Erik could hear his mouth twist into a smirk, but he still wasn’t ready for the playful nudge he got to his side. He might have squealed, if that hadn’t been far too demeaning. “That dino has your smile. Are you related?”  
Erik opened one eye, just to watch a giant shark-like dinosaur bite a smaller whale-saurus in half. He snorted. “You’re only saying that because you’re jealous that you’re far too hairy to have a terror inducing lizard looking like you.”  
Logan harrumphed, deep in his chest. Still, he was shaking with suppressed laughter. It made that harrumph come out in shaky bursts. “Who’s to say dinosaurs had no fur? I mean, they did have feathers, apparently.”  
“You’d make one ugly dinosaur, if you’d ask me,” Erik declared after a long, appraising glance. “I like you far better as a primate.” He showed off his teeth. It earned him another nudge from Logan, shaking with laughter.  
“Do I have to be afraid now? That you might gnaw on my limbs at night?” Logan asked, full of mirth.   
Erik’s grin widened even further. “If I wanted to gnaw at you, you’d know by the bite marks on your shoulders.”  
They watched the rest of the documentary like that. Once or twice, Erik’s glance landed on Logan’s crotch, mostly to calm himself down and in the effort to make sure, to be consciously aware, that whatever reaction the make out session had caused there was flagging. It helped.  
When the documentary ended, they turned the TV off. Erik cleared their glasses and the untouched bottle of ginger ale away while Logan waited for him in the living room. Together, they went to the bathroom. For a moment, Erik was a little unsure. “Do you want me to leave you while you get ready for bed?” he asked while he was rummaging through a cabinet for a new toothbrush to give Logan. When he turned, Logan had already stripped out of his shirt.  
“No, why?” Logan asked. He seemed entirely comfortable. When Erik offered him the toothbrush, he nodded in thanks, then looked down on himself. “You couldn’t lend me a t-shirt, could you? I forgot an overnight bag.” He was grinning.  
Erik rolled his eyes. “I’ll see what I can do.” He left Logan to find him a shirt to sleep in, gathering his own shorts and t-shirt from the bed while he was at it. When he came back to the bathroom, Logan was just rubbing his face dry. The toothbrush was balanced on the rim of the sink, dripping a little. Erik picked it up and put it in the glass next to his own.  
“Domestic,” was Logan’s comment on that. Erik threw the t-shirt at his face for his trouble. Logan caught it, still smirking. “Thanks.” He pulled it on, tugging on it a little critically until it was to his satisfaction. It was a tighter fit than Erik had anticipated, stretching just short of tight over Logan’s chest, despite having taken explicitly the largest shirt in his closet. His company’s logo took up half the front, as it had been given out for some team building event.  
Logan pulled at the neck. “Would you mind if I pass on the shirt after all?” he groaned. “I don’t think I can sleep in this.”  
Erik shrugged. He really didn’t mind. “But the shorts stay on or I’ll kick you out.” It was meant to be a joke but there was a bit of dread creeping into his voice.  
Logan crossed the distance between them with one step to kiss Erik on the forehead. “Understood.” He yawned. “I’ll wait in bed?”  
Erik nodded, hurrying to get ready for bed himself after Logan had left. When he entered the bedroom, Logan had taken up most of the bed, looking comfortable like a cat on a heating blanket. He only shifted enough to make room for Erik to crawl in next to him, making displeased sounds anyway.  
“Did you set an alarm?” Erik asked. He was ready to fall asleep like he was, his face pressed into the crook of Logan’s neck and one arm thrown across his chest. If he had been a little less tired, all the hair on Logan’s chest would have been begging to be scratched.  
Logan kissed the top of his head. “Yeah.” He nudged Erik a little. “If you roll over I spoon you.”  
Erik grumbled, but only a little. The prospect of having Logan hold him in his arms all night was well worth the risk of maybe waking up to something poking in his back. He rolled onto his side, waiting for Logan to do the same and making himself comfortable with his legs parallel to Erik’s and an arm over his torso pulling his back close to his chest. Erik let out a pleased sigh. Really, there were worse ways to fall asleep.

~*~

  
The next morning, Erik was woken by a very annoying beeping sound. Disoriented as he was, he tried to move and couldn’t, causing him to struggle a little. He could hear Logan groan, so close he felt his breath against the back of his neck. For a moment, he closed his eyes again, perfectly happy with the thought he could sleep in like they were. If only the beeping would stop.  
He nudged Logan. “Your alarm is beeping,” he rumbled, his voice sleep-heavy. He nudged Logan again, this time mostly to snuggle up closer against him. “If you oversleep, I won’t let you leave ‘til noon.” It was an empty threat. He’d probably carry Logan to work if he had to, knowing Logan had nobody to cover for him.  
Logan groaned, loud and like a man unwilling to be awake at this hour. Still, he somehow, with great effort, managed to detach the arm holding Erik close and roll onto his back so he could reach his phone and turn off the alarm. He cursed softly. “Should have been up ten minutes ago.”  
Erik pulled at the blanket until Logan was mostly without cover. “Then get up. If you’re late to work you’ll never again stay over.” He didn’t mean it. It had been nice so far. Nice enough that Erik wanted little more than to turn around and bury his face against Logan’s chest.  
They somehow made it out of the bed, despite both of them trying to wring a few more minutes out of their wakeup phase by kissing until Logan’s alarm rang again, having only been put on slumber. While Logan was taking a shower, Erik put together a small breakfast, just coffee and cereal. He had bread and jam too, but no peanut butter left. Logan didn’t mind, devouring the cereal and flushing it down with the coffee. Erik watched him, a bit too fascinated to eat himself. He could do that later, when Logan had gone to work and he’d had another nap.  
Despite Logan’s hurry to get to work, they still managed to get in a long kiss by the door. It was enough to make it up to Erik that he hadn’t been able to sleep in. “You’re not working tomorrow, are you?” he asked when Logan was just about to pull back from their embrace.  
Logan shook his head. “Shop’s closed on Sundays, I need one free day a week.”  
“How does dinner sound, then?”  
Logan grinned. “Should I bring an overnight bag this time?”  
Erik nodded emphatically.


End file.
